Fragments and meaning in traditional song : from the blues to the Baltic / by Mary-Ann Constantine & Gerald Porter ; with a foreword by Barre Toelken.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Constantine, Mary-Ann.

Contributor:

Porter, Gerald, 1946-

Series:

British Academy postdoctoral fellowship monograph

A British Academy postdoctoral fellowship monograph

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Folk songs.

Oral tradition.

Physical Description:

xiii, 261 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, [2003]

Summary:

This is a study of very short songs: pieces long perceived as 'fragments' or remnants of longer narrative texts, and dismissed as the by-products of a degenerative oral tradition. Coverage includes English, Welsh, Breton, American, and Finnish songs. The authors argue that the inherently metaphorical and connotative idiom of traditional song makes external critical notions of 'completeness' inappropriate: in practice, such pieces are rarely felt to be broken or lacking by those who sing them - they have a strong metonymic force. A wide range of texts and traditions texts and traditions is explored to suggest how short songs may convey meaning both in performance and in non-traditional contexts such as the literary novel.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [239]-253) and indexes.

ISBN:

0197262880

OCLC:

52145518